My parents like to call me quirky. Whatever they mean by that is lost to me. By all standards I think I'm pretty normal. Normal grades (they're pretty shit actually), normal friends, normal life. Normal morning routine of staring at my phone willing for its alarm to turn off by itself so I don't have to expose my hand to the unforgiving cold that is a January morning.

I sigh and surrender my hand to the freezing air, turning off my alarm clock. Now, time to get the rest of my body out of it's little cocoon of warmth. I will my other arm to slither out of the covers like a traitorous snake and soon my legs follow.

Well, I'm done with that. Time to eat breakfast and stare at my phone for twenty minutes. Then brush my teeth. Then wash my face. Then say bye to my mom before walking to school and staring at my phone for another twenty minutes until the bell rings.

First period is math today, perfect. Ethan sits next to me and believe me, he is not someone you want to sit next to. He's too talkative, which is great and all, except when you're trying to actually learn something and not fail math.

But for once, he wasn't loudly talking to anyone around him, just quietly mumbling to himself. He seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in while I sat down.

"Hey Theresa"

"Hey"

And that was that. I pull out my math notebook and slump in my seat waiting for morning announcements and class to actually start.

~

The lunch bell rings, but unfortunately for me, my language teacher seems to have a vendetta against my class period and holds us back. A minute passes. Then another. Then three more. Then finally, he lets us go. Perfect, my wallowing in self-pity time has been cut short.

I'm kidding, if you couldn't tell.

Lunch is a relatively quite affair, hanging around some people I know from the school newspaper. I eventually leave to hang around the only building of the old school they hadn't bothered to tear down yet. Even though it's technically a restricted area, it's not like there's any faculty around to shoo me away so I just stay there. It's not like I go inside the building either, I just sit on the ramps and do my homework.

Riveting stuff, I know.

Sorry if I'm boring you, by the way, I'm not some heroine of a fantastical story with monsters and villains and a hunky love interest. So bear with me. Something interesting might happen yet.

The bell rings. I sigh, stand up, and promptly fall on my ass. This just might be the most exciting thing to have happened to me today. I hear a snort coming from the left and I turn to see who just witnessed my ultimate betrayal, it's none other than Ethan.

It's very obvious that he's trying to hide, and for a second I consider just ignoring him.

Only for a second.

"You suck at hiding by the way"

No reply.

"Ethan, I know you're there"

Nothing.

"Ah whatever, I gotta go. Have fun with whatever you're doing, don't be late to class."

I finally get up from my spot on the cold, unforgiving concrete ramp. I brush off my jeans and fix my hair.

I'm not going to make it to my next class on time.

~

My alarm goes off. I check the time.

"FUCK"

It's 7:30 am, and the last thing I remember is the sound of my mom making dinner. I didn't start my homework, I'm still wearing the clothes I had on yesterday, and my phone is on 15%. I have to leave the house at 7:40 to get to school on time.

I don't think I'm going to survive today.

I peel off my jeans and monstrously wrinkled shirt, then put on a sweater and a different pair of jeans. I make my bed and leave my room.

My little sister is already in the bathroom when I go to brush my teeth. She's kind enough to have already put toothpaste on my brush for me and I gratefully take it.

"Why didn't mom wake me up?"

"She said you needed the rest"

"All fifteen hours of it?"

"I guess"

Hm. Well that's something to think about.

When I finish brushing my teeth I wash my face and check the time. 7:48. Fuck. I don't have the time to eat breakfast. I go get my backpack and shout a quick goodbye to my mom and sister before pulling on my sneakers. I grab the spare key from the basket in the entryway and head out the door.

It's colder than I had anticipated.

A lot colder than I had anticipated.

By the time I get to school my hands are numb from the cold and my face has lost all feeling. Unfortunately the library is closed on Thursdays. Meaning I can't hide from the cold in a heated room and instead have to sit in the quad with my hands shoved in my armpits for warmth. My head is down because I have my nose stuffed into my sweater so I don't notice someone walking up to me until I see their shoes directly in my field of vision. I look up.

It's Ethan.

I don't know what he's up to but he seems strangely impatient. He doesn't look annoyed or generally upset in any form, but there's an air of urgency to the way his arms are awkwardly crossed against his chest.

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

No thanks. I don't really like this whole confrontational vibe he's giving off, plus, I'm 99% sure that Ethan was in fact, the one spying on me yesterday. But hey, this seems interesting, maybe he'll explain himself or something.

"Sure"

He lets out an audible sigh and motions for me to follow him, leading us towards the old building. He goes up the ramp and looks around before pulling out a ring of keys and using one to open the door.

The only emotion my brain can register is '??'

Ethan goes inside and I follow him. Despite its age, the building and its classrooms are still in decent shape. Even some of the trophies and awards from past decades are preserved and on display in the hall. He goes into one of the classrooms that has visibly less dust on its desks than the others and sits down.

"So you're uh, probably wondering why I brought you here."

"Uh," I clear my throat, "yeah."

He laughs nervously and continues, "Well, I kinda have a favor to ask? Uh, it might sound kinda weird? But uh... just, give me a second."

He takes a bit to compose himself, seeming to do some sort of breathing exercise. His chest rising and falling as he breaths in through his nose and out his mouth.

"So uh", he laughs, scratching the back of his head,"I need help to... uh. Breakintotheschool?

'???'

He continues blabbering, trying to avoid silence. "I know it sounds kind weird but I just think there's something really weird going on around here and I feel like I need your help. There's a few other people helping me so if you really don't want to do it it's totally fine! But-"

"Ok"

"What?"

"I said ok. I'll help you"

There's no good, valid, sane reason for me to go along with this.

But maybe I just want to have a little fun. No harm in that, right?